


Advanced Munitions Expenditures

by Allyjayrunaway



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Don’t read if you aren’t prepared, Gen, Major character death - Freeform, Serial Killer, Suicide, this is dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25914154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Allyjayrunaway/pseuds/Allyjayrunaway
Summary: Annie stumbles to the ground, a scream frozen on her lips. She tries to reach out to him but the world is spinning into nothingness around her.
Relationships: Annie Edison/Jeff Winger
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	Advanced Munitions Expenditures

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this was originally a small snippet I wrote for the Community Discord chat, but I decided to flesh it out a little, and I ended up with this. Trigger warning, Violence and Suicide.

Present

Annie stumbles to the ground, a scream frozen on her lips. She tries to reach out to him but the world is spinning into nothingness around her. She can see the ragged hole punched into his shirt, see dark blood streaming over him like a river spilling horror into her world. Can see the tear tracks cutting through the grit on his cheeks. He begins to spasm violently, and time speeds up. She can hear sirens in the distance, and a raw, inhuman sound that eventually she realises is emerging from her own lips. When he coughs, bloody spittle flies from his mouth. His eyes find hers, pleading and small, and there is nothing she can do. Nothing she ever could have done. As his body becomes limp, the light fading from his eyes, she utters a howl that would leave her throat raw for days. Jeff is gone.

She pounds a fist into his chest, not willing to let go while also furious at him for not finishing this thing with her. Their first real case, not just an excuse to be close or hold hands in the dark, and he dies.

The only sound is her blood pumping in her ears with a rage no drum beat could ever hope to match. She’s heartbroken, bereft, and mind-meltingly angry. Hell hath no fury like a woman whose true love is killed before he can confess his feelings.

She pulls herself into a standing position, iron in her bones and fire in her belly, and sprints away from the scene. In the logical part of her mind, she acknowledges that if she sticks around she’ll just be delayed by EMT’s or police asking what happened.

Three days earlier 3:42 Pm

“Annie, this is an actual crime, we can’t just investigate like we’re on Brooklyn 99. You know that’s not how this works.” Jeff looks at her with mirth in his eyes but the set of his jaw betrays how serious he is.

“Jeff, you heard the press conference! They’re not going to do anything! This isn’t the Ass Crack Bandit, three people have turned up _dead_ in the last two weeks, and they all went to school here! Am I just supposed to do nothing about that? Wait until I’m the one in the crosshairs?” She finishes, a smug look belying the true unease she feels. She’s used to not feeling safe, a current of anxiety runs under her every thought, but this is different. She doesn’t just feel unsafe, she feels danger creeping up behind her at every moment and she hasn’t slept in days.

She notices his smirk tighten at the mention of her being in danger, and maybe she can use this to her advantage. She’s not above manipulation to get what she wants, but in this case it isn’t even a stretch.

“I’m scared, Jeff. You and I both know that we need to feel like we’re in control, and I’m spiralling here. I haven’t slept in days. You’re the only one I know can help me. Please.” She breaks out her best Disney eyes, and she rejoices the moment she sees him break.

“Fine. But if I get shot, I’ll kill you.” She rolls her eyes.

“According to police, the MO is strangulation.” She feels his palm searching for its normal place in the small of her back, and smiles just a little. Maybe it’s not entirely for bad reasons that she wants his help.

Present

She can’t feel anything, not the burning in her lungs, nor the pounding of her feet against the pavement. She’s driven by a single minded need to unleash the monster that is clawing at her rib cage, driving her further and further from reality. Adderall be damned, this is what truly breaks Annie Edison. A wicked grin slices itself across her face, scenes of unending chaos flickering in the front of her mind and unbearable pain driving her faster and faster until her feet ache and her spine rattles.

He’s there, up ahead, and she drops to a crouch, unwilling to give up the element of surprise, unwilling to lose. She peers around the corner, the abandoned warehouse coming fully into view. He’s speaking to something that looks like a mannequin but she knows enough to guess it’s not. A high pitched giggle reaches her ears and goosebumps break out unbidden on her skin. It’s not right, that sound coming from a grown man.

Peaking around the corner again, she sees him waltzing the figure around the room and catches another snippet.

“-we got him, yes we did. Just because he said we should, we made sure to get him too.” Her skin crawls, and along with it the demon in her chest, moving up into her throat burn with the need to scream. This can’t be happening. She has to put an end to it. He’s not coming back.

She holds the gun up to her chest as she rushes out into the open.

“Stop dancing, you sick motherfucker!” He freezes and she silently thanks HaShem that Hickey took her to the shooting range that one time, and also that he keeps his bottom drawer unlocked . She knows the kickback is coming, but even so it’s hard to keep her arms straight.

She looks on in wonder as the back of her mind registers his knee explode in a mist of blood and bone.

Two days ago 2:17 PM

Jeff meets her in the study room, even though they both have class at this time. It’s the first time she’s ever skipped a class for something that didn’t involve withdrawals.

“I think we should follow him tonight.” He says with an air of false confidence. She catches the way he automatically shields her from the door, and tries not to let her blush show, but she knows it will in spite of her.

“I don’t know.” Annie chews at her lip, thinking the possible consequences over. “What if he gets the drop on us?”

“Oh come on,” Jeff says, his characteristic confident swagger back on show. “That’s only something that happens in TV shows.

“I don’t know Jeff, he could know that we’re onto him...” She doesn’t know how to finish, hoping fervently that the words pouring out of her mouth aren’t true.

“Oh c’mon, the fearless Ace of Spades shouldn’t worry about the likes of him! You know we’ve got at least two years of shooting practice on him, plus, he won’t know what hit him. The police are gonna give us a commendation and you’ll be on the fast track to the FBI in no time. Now, let’s go catch a serial killer.” She lets herself be dragged along, despite the pit in her stomach, because how can she say no to him?

Present

The way he screams tells her that he hasn’t felt much physical pain in his life, and she’s determined to fix that for him. She’s felt enough pain for a lifetime and more, and demon currently crushing her lungs is eager to share to share its suffering.

“You didn’t think there would be consequences, did you?” It’s her voice, but there’s venom dripping off of it in ways she didn’t think she was capable of. “Didn’t think you would hurt too, did you?” They’re rhetorical questions; she has no intention of listening to an answer. But there’s one burning question she does want answered. “Why, Rich? Why did you do it?” Her only bit of closure is a strangled growl.

She steps forward, pistol trained on him as he cowers on the ground, nowhere to go and no way to get there. His left leg is useless, she makes sure of that. But really, she doesn’t want answers, she wants revenge.

Today 4:43 AM

They’ve successfully followed him back to what seems to be his hideout, and Jeff has an air of extreme smugness about him. The warehouse seems completely unused, but Annie is still extremely unnerved by the whole experience.

“I don’t care if it is him,” She hisses in a whisper. “We need to report him to the authorities and do this safely.” She can tell he doesn’t want to. He wants to be the hero and save the school from its own serial killer, but she can’t let that happen. The thought of anything happening to him is enough to get her blood simmering and an anxious breath caught in her chest. He looks torn before peaking back around the corner of the large brick building. A voice calls out and heart heart stops mid beat.

“Jeff, is that you?” That jovial voice calls out of the dim haze. His eyes nearly pop out before he turns back toward the sound.

“Oh...Hey Rich! I was just jogging by! What are you up to? Not another volunteering project?” Jeff steps out from behind the wall, beckoning her to leave, but she’s rooted to the spot. She sees his eyes flash and she absentmindedly takes up an aggressive stance. Her instincts are to fight but her mind is flipping through all the ways this could go wrong. This isn’t a fun, cutesy caper, she reminds herself, this is literal life or death. Rather more death than she would have ever liked to experience. Slater, Magnitude, and now Vicky all gone forever. How was she ever going to hear ‘pop’ the same way, after seeing his lifeless corpse?

“No.” The voice floats her way, laughing but not like there is anything funny going on. It’s a cold laugh, and she can’t believe she’d ever found anything remotely intriguing about it. “Just a personal project. You want to come see?” Her breath leaves her, and her eyes bore into the side fo Jeff’s head, begging him to come up with an excuse to leave immediately, but he seems frozen.She wills him to laugh it off, but it doesn’t come.

“Uhh, I have to finish my run, I’m sure you know...gotta keep everything toned and even.” Jeff’s answer comes slowly, uncertainly. She silently curses. Of all the moments for him not to keep his cool...

“Oh, yeah! Gotta wake up early, maintain those calves!” Comes the response, but she barely hears it. She’s already dragging him away and back toward safety.

Today: 11:22 AM

“ _...So, I have a very special announcement, courtesy of one of our top students, Dr. Rich Stephenson. The third annual game of paintball, for a prize of ten thousand dollars. As you know, the game starts now, and the last man-sorry, person- standing gets the prize_!” The announcement drives shards of ice through her veins, and as she looks into his eyes she knows he has the same thought- he knows.

The rest of the study group is divided, arguing about prize money while Jeff and Annie have an unspoken understanding to stick together.

They manage to hole up in the library for hours together, discussing various theories on the subject of Rich’s homicidal tendencies while they pick off the easy targets that come their way. A couple of times throughout the day, they hear a the deep rapport of a weapon that can’t possibly be a paintball gun, but they try not to think about it.

When the clock hits 4 pm, they hear a perversely distorted announcement over the

PA, proclaiming that there’s only three contestants left, and a duel is to be held on the quad in precisely 15 minutes. She begs him not to go, but when the game has sunk into his veins there’s not much that can talk him out of it. Not even her best Disney eyes can do the trick.

He marches out of the library, his rifle held confidently in front of him, and she can only watch as her mind traces around the trap she is sure has been set. Making a split second decision, she sprints the opposite direction, toward the staff offices.

Present

“You thought no one would figure it out, did you?” She drawls, acutely aware that her quarry has no way to escape. She doesn’t wait for confirmation. “Well, we did. We knew it was you days ago, we just needed more evidence, but you killed him. You staged the paintball game, you killed all those people, the Dean, Garrett, Shirley, Abed...” She nearly chokes at the last name, but there’s no room. Her being is already filled with desire for pain, revenge, retribution... She can’t lose focus now. Not when she’s this close tp the finish line. “ _Sweet Dr. Rich, no one would suspect him!_ ” She exclaims in a callously fake falsetto. “You’re a fool.”

“He said I was a serial killer...” He grunts, and though she’s not expecting a confession, she can allow it, though, for the sake of posterity. Her phone has been recording in her pocket for the last hour, so she keeps quiet. “Dr. Rich is nobody, not really, so if Jeff wants him to be a murderer, then so be it.” If he was here he’d be so smug about this.

He looks up at her with a horrible pleased expression, and she wants to kill him, wants to do it now, but the monster is there, telling her to wait. Telling her that everything will be so much sweeter if she draws it out.

“You’re so weak, Rich.” She says emotionlessly as she takes aim once again. The report of the gun echoes as she watches, a ruthless hole tearing its way through his shoulder in a spray of crimson. “You couldn’t take a little joke? How pathetic.” She winces as she looks up, seeing the bloated body of Vicky strung up like a side of beef. She leaves him there for a minute, pulling the Swiss Army knife- a gift from Abed goddamn- from her bag and cutting the corpse loose.

She positions herself behind him, pressing the barrel of the pistol into the exit wound on his back. The resulting scream barely enters her head.

“You had to kill because someone said they thought you might? That’s sad. I’m going to kill because I want to. How about that?” She feels a certainty come over her, as though the choice is entirely out of her hands. She hears the shots, sees the anterior of his skull come apart, but she doesn’t feel it. Doesn’t register that she’s now alone.

“I wonder how it feels the second time around?” She pushes the barrel of the gun underneath her jaw, grinning madly as she pulls the trigger. She thinks she hears Jeff calling out to her, but it’s probably her imagination. Maybe he knows she’s coming to be with him forever.

Present

Jeff hurtles around the corner just in time to see her pull the trigger. Just in time to register the prone form in front of her, and to see the confetti of red explode all over his world. Just in time to cradle her lifeless form, to scream in agony when her pulse falters to a stop under his fingers. He loses his mind long enough to count the shots in the chamber. Two.

Enough for backup in case he misses.


End file.
